Prospective one-year treatment outcomes of tortured refugees: a psychiatric approach

Prospective one-year treatment outcomes of tortured refugees: a psychiatric approach

The treatment of torture survivors from diverse cultures has been a difficult task involving issues of loss, massive trauma, cultural style, and adjusting to a new country. Research on treatment outcomes has shown inconsistent results. This report presents a prospective one year treatment outcome of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Torture Vol. 22; no. 1; p. 1
Main Authors: Kinzie, J David, Kinzie, J Mark, Sedighi, Behjat, Woticha, Abdella, Mohamed, Halima, Riley, Crystal
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Denmark 2012
Subjects:
Adult
Afghanistan - ethnology
Aged
Depression - therapy
Ethiopia - ethnology
Ethnic Groups - psychology
Female
Humans
Iran - ethnology
Male
Middle Aged
Psychotherapy
Refugees - psychology
Somalia - ethnology
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - therapy
Torture - psychology
Treatment Outcome
United States - epidemiology
Young Adult
Somalia
Afghanistan
Iran
United States
Ethiopia
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Summary:The treatment of torture survivors from diverse cultures has been a difficult task involving issues of loss, massive trauma, cultural style, and adjusting to a new country. Research on treatment outcomes has shown inconsistent results. This report presents a prospective one year treatment outcome of 22 severely tortured patients from Ethiopia, Somalia, Iran and Afghanistan. Treatment was provided by psychiatrists and counselors with interpreters from each culture involved. The specific treatment included psychiatric evaluation, medicine, education, supportive psychotherapy and assisting some social needs. All 22 were diagnosed with depression and 17 of these also had posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Twenty of 22 patients showed marked significant improvement on all of the scales for depression, PTSD, disability, and quality of life. Medicine was particularly useful in treating depression and the symptoms of flashbacks, nightmares and irritability. Standard psychiatric treatment with evaluation, diagnosis, appropriate medicine, supportive psychotherapy and counseling by ethnic counselors provided good outcomes.
ISSN:1997-3322